1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of casino wagering, casino card game wagering, and particularly casino table card game wagering.
2. Background of the Invention
Many different wagering games presently exist for use in both home and casino environments. Such games should necessarily be exciting, not excessively complicated, and relatively easy to learn so as to avoid frustrating the players. Poker games in particular have gained widespread popularity because of their well-known rules and long-established ranking of hands.
Furthermore, the games usually involve numerous wagering opportunities for the players, thus increasing player participation and excitement. Lastly, the games move fairly quickly, which enhances player interest. All of these factors have created games that are widely accepted and widely known. Consequently, further variations of wagering games are desired.
Poker games in general reward players for poker hands that beat the dealer's hand. Other poker games have wagering events or bonus events in which a particularly high-ranking poker hand receives a bonus or jackpot. Some poker games combine both player versus dealer competition and competition against a paytable at the same time. Examples of such games include Three-Card Poker® games (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,774); Caribbean Stud® poker (U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,553); Let It Ride® poker (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,081); blackjack with Three-card Poker games (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,012,719; 6,481,719; and 6,523,831); Four-Card Poker™ games (e.g., US Published Patent Documents 20020195775; 20040061288; 20040217548; 20060267285 and the like), and other variant games and wagering capabilities as disclosed variously in Published US Patent Application documents 20050082760; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,295 and 5,697,614 (Potter). Some of these games are played with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7-card player and/or dealer hands, and as standalone games or side bet wagers in underlying games.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,206,373 and 6,637,747 (Garrod) describes methods of and apparatus for playing a card game. In one method, the dealer's hand contains a specified card, such as e.g. the ace of spades, displayed face up. From the remainder of the deck each player is dealt two face-down cards. After each player views the two face down cards, each player may act upon his or her hand. The player may be given the option to fold and receive a portion of the original wager back. Alternatively, the player may remain in the game leaving the original wager unchanged. As a further alternative, the player may be given the option to increase the wager up to a determined amount. After making a decision, the five common cards are dealt face up. The common cards are common to each of the players' hands and to the dealer's hand. The dealer is then dealt one card face up to complete the deal. Each player compares his or her best five card hand to the dealer's best five card hand to determine if that player is a winner. Additionally, the player may receive a bonus for certain hands. Further, the player may fold and receive a return based on some portion of, or all of the wager for having one or two of a predetermined card (such as a deuce) in the player's initial two cards.
The most popular game of poker played today is Texas Hold'Em poker. This game is basically played as follows:
In Hold-Em poker, players receive two face-down cards (hole cards) as their personal hand, after which there is a round of betting. Three community cards are then turned simultaneously (called the Flop) and another round of betting occurs. The next two community cards are turned one at a time, with a round of betting after each card (Fourth Street and the River cards). The players may use any five-card combination from among the community cards and their hole cards. A player may even use all of the community cards and no personal cards to form a hand. A traveling dealer button is used to identify a nominative dealer. The usual structure is to use two blinds (compulsory wagers), but it is possible to play the game with one blind, multiple blinds, an ante, or combination of blinds plus an ante. The object of the game is to form best possible five card poker hand, using any combination of hole cards and community cards, or forcing all other players out of the game (e.g., by bluffing) to win the pot.
Each of these references is incorporated herein by reference to assist in understanding poker terms and game and wagering structures.
The success of some of these games has spurred the development of and desire for additional games to be played.